About 6:25 a.m. and before dawn on September 12, 1979, a 1976 Dodge van, occupied by 14 senior citizens, overtook and collided with a slow-moving farm vehicle near Delta, Utah. The right front corner of the van struck the left rear edge of the 15 1/2-ft-wide cutting attachment that was mounted to the front of the farm vehicle. The van rolled onto its left wheels, traveled off the right side of the road, and struck a concrete bridge parapet that was located 4 1/2 ft beyond the edge of the pavement. Eight van occupants were killed, and six van passengers were injured; the driver of the farm vehicle was not injured. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the farm vehicle's inadequate rear lighting system, which failed to identify the slow-moving, overwidth windrower as a hazard to higher-speed traffic approaching from the rear, and the van driver's inability to detect and avoid striking the projecting cutting attachment on the windrower while operating at the posted speed limit.
Highway Accident Report - Van/Slow-Moving Farm Vehicle Collision, U. S. Route 6/50, Near Delta, Utah, September 12, 1979
1980
29 pages
Report
No indication
English